5 Easy ways to eliminate STRESS at work

Did you know about the silent killer at your workplace? It lurks around in the shadows, sacks away your concentration, feeds on your energy and leave you unconfident. Everybody talks about it in hushed tones and sometimes deny it’s very existence. What is it?

STRESS.

Studies have proved that excess stress can have very harmful effects on your health. Stress can cause a number of physical symptoms like headaches, increased blood pressure, chest pain, and trouble sleeping. Not to mention its role in mood disorders like anxiety and depression. We’ll help you figure out super easy ways to deal with this ruthless disorder. Start by identifying the warning signs that you are going through so much is stress at work :

Anxiety, irritability and depression

Fatigue

Muscle tension and headaches

Stomach issues

Apathy or loss of interest at work

Social withdrawal

Decreased libido

Problems with concentrating

Trouble sleeping

Can you relate to two or more signs from the above? Is there a way to maintain steady focus throughout the day? Is it possible to do everything that needs to get done and still have energy left over after work? How do you keep cool under so many demands? Yes, we’ve got you covered. Follow these 5 super easy strategies to take the stress level down a notch, before it takes over your life.

Take a deep breath

If you're feeling overwhelmed or need to clear your head after a tense meeting, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance. Inhale for five seconds, hold and exhale in equal counts through the nose.

Take control

We experience major stress and anxiety when we feel that situations are out of our control. It activates stress hormones and if it is super intense, then it wears down your confidence and well-being too. Which is why experts say that it is necessary to identify the aspects of the situation you can and cannot handle. Typically, you are in control of your actions and responses but not in control of external or macro forces. Do learn to control it and try to let go of the rest.

Schedule your day

Most often, we are required to push ourselves more than we can handle. Thinking if we work and push ourselves a little extra, we can get more work done. But what really happens is that, the productivity goes down and stress levels go up. At the end of the day, you would be completely drained out of energy. Experts advice scheduling breaks throughout the day to walk, stretch or fo breathing exercises. After every 90 minutes of intense concentration, try taking a break aka brief period of recovery to clear the build up of stress and rejuvenate yourself.

Eat right and sleep well

Inadequate intake of food will definitely stress your system. Get on a low-sugar, high protein diet. And when you don’t get proper sleep, you don't get the rejuvenation effects. Recovery period for your body is very important. If you find it difficult to sleep because of racy thoughts, try this: cover your right nostril and breathe through your left one for three to five minutes.

Prioritise interruptions

Most of us are usually bombarded during the day with emails, phone calls, instant messages and urgent deadlines. While you may not have control over these interruptions, you can control your response. Accept the interruption, diagnose its importance and make a prioritised plan. Understand where you stand in the organisational structure and your personal goals and strength. Cut off all that unwanted distractions and interruptions.

While stress appears to be a serious problem, it is DEFINITELY solvable. Try following these strategies to bring down your stress level at work so that you make some amazing breakthroughs and create some magic for yourself!